


Turning back the clock

by Ash0605



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Aya is a soft baby who needs a hug!, Birthday, Everyone Is Gay, Fluff, Gen, I think Chisato would be great for said hugs!, Lies, Pancakes, Tags Are Hard, an attempt at comedy, there is a dog!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:21:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28372305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ash0605/pseuds/Ash0605
Summary: As Aya wakes up on her birthday in a bed that isn't hers, she feels a bizarre sense of deja vu. She feels like her birthday has already happened, and not in the sense that she had one last year.Happy Birthday Aya!
Relationships: Maruyama Aya/Shirasagi Chisato
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	Turning back the clock

Aya groggily opened her eyes to a room that wasn’t hers. Where she expected pastel pink walls lined with idol merchandise she instead found generic, undecorated grays. The room was sparsely equipped too, with only a bedside table adjacent to the bed and a singular window on the right side of the room. The only notable thing about where she was the double bed she was laying on. It’s soft, clean sheets felt far more comfortable than her own single bed. With all that room to spread out and get comfy, no wonder Aya felt like she had awoken from a deep sleep.

As Aya slowly started to wake up and check her surroundings, she felt a bizarre sense of unease creep through her body. Her hair was tied up in pigtails as if she were performing or practicing and she wasn’t even wearing her pink pajamas, instead wearing a knitted white sweater and purple miniskirt. She hadn’t even taken her boots off. It was if she had come straight home from the agency and collapsed into bed.

The room itself was another enigma. Not knowing where you were was always going to be distressing, and it probably explained some of Aya’s unrest, but the room itself wasn’t scary. Its colour scheme used light colours rather than darker ones, and an ample amount of light was let into the room despite the curtains being drawn over the windows. To top it off, the door standing opposite Aya was ajar; from what she could tell she could leave whenever she wanted. The room itself was unknown, but it wasn’t an oppressive atmosphere.

As it was the only other piece of furniture in the room, Aya’s eyes were eventually drawn to the bedside table. There was a small lamp, an electronic clock and a small piece of paper with something on it. Aya checked the clock first, which read 8:05am on Saturday the 27th December. Aya wasn’t a morning person, but school duties and idol work ensured she rose early. 8am wakeups never happened for Aya. Aya then realized it was her birthday, and immediately felt embarrassed at something as important as that being the second thought.

Soon after the concept of it being her birthday entered her mind, her embarrassment subsided and her train of thought screeched to a halt. Something about it being her birthday felt familiar, and it wasn’t because she’d had a birthday last year. Aya pushed the feeling aside quickly. It was her birthday, there was no need to worry about anything! Not to mention that it was far too early to question the passing and nature of time.

The large, loud yawn Aya let out put a pin in that train of thought. She then reached for the piece of paper on the table, slamming her hand down on the surface and dragging it towards her. After grasping it clumsily in her fingers, she brought it close to her face, squinting her eyes in an attempt to cooperate with her still asleep brain. The handwriting on the paper was neat and (thankfully) legible.

_Good morning Aya-chan, and Happy Birthday!_

_If you’re unsure about where you are, don’t worry. You were sleeping in my bed last night. I apologize for not making it more obvious. I’ll make breakfast for you when you come down, so feel free to come down whenever you want._

_Chisato_

Aya felt a sleepy smile form on her face as she read the note. It was comforting to know she was in the care of someone she knew and trusted. The sparse contents of her room made more sense too. Being as busy as she was, Chisato wouldn’t be home long enough to appreciate it.

With her doubts allayed, Aya sluggishly lifted herself off the bed and made her way out of the room. She clung to the sturdy railing as she walked along the hallway and towards the nearby stairwell. She walked past a bookcase packed to the brim with books and a somewhat out of place calendar, which had every December date marked up to the 27th.

So it was the 27th December then. Even so, Aya didn’t feel more secure about the thought. She felt like it had already happened, but she wasn’t sure why.

Aya clung to the guard rail tighter as she moved down the stairs one step at a time, not wanting to tumble down the flight and scare Chisato. Unsure of which of the entrances around her led to a kitchen, Aya gravitated towards the only room that appeared to have lights on. Her first guess was correct as she walked into a tiled room with numerous kitchen appliances lining the walls and a simple table in the middle with 4 chairs around it. The room was generously lit with numerous windows filtering in sunlight from outside and the kitchen light being on.

Leaning up against the workstation on the opposite side of the room was Chisato, who greeted her with a wave and a warm smile. Aya was interrupted halfway through attempting to reply by the feeling of soft fur brushing against her legs, and she physically jumped when she looked down and saw a golden retriever happily rubbing himself up against her.

“Did Leon scare you just now?” Chisato asked, with a voice that seemed more amused than concerned.

“He did, yeah.” Aya admitted, her voice still shaky from the shock. She extended one of her hands to pat Leon’s fur, which felt nice and warm against her palms.

Aya felt her eyes narrow at the laughter Chisato allowed herself. “I feel like that’s very typical of you, Aya-chan! Though in your defence, you’ve probably only just realized where you are.”

“That’s very true.” Aya stopped petting Leon to face Chisato. “What happened yesterday? I can barely remember anything.” Aya questioned. She placed a hand on her hand, both to emphasize her lack of knowledge and to coerce her brain into remembering something.

“The time of year around your birthday is always super busy for you. You’ve got your end of year exams, a Christmas event and preparation for any New Year events all at the same time, alongside anything you might have to do for your birthday. Yesterday, you were so tired after all your work you passed out, so I took you here for the night.” Chisato explained.

“That makes sense!” Aya replied, convinced. “I did something similar last year around this time, right?”

“Similar yes, though you didn’t completely pass out last year.”

“I see!” Aya’s bright expression then dulled as a thought struck her like a thunderbolt. “Wait, it is my birthday today, right?”

“It is.” Chisato nodded.

“Is there an event today?”

“Theres nothing booked today.” Chisato affirmed, her mouth curving into a smile. “All of Pastel Palettes have the day off.”

“That’s… unusual.” Aya faltered, as if she were unconvinced. “Though I don’t mind having a day off on my birthday.”

“If the workload you’ve been having suggests anything, you definitely deserve it.” Chisato encouraged warmly. “Shall I make you something for breakfast? I don’t mean to brag, but I’m quite proud of my pancakes.”

“Ooooo pancakes!” Aya felt her mouth water as she imagined a pile of pancakes covered in chocolate sauce. “I would love to eat some pancakes, if you were willing to make them!”

“It would be my pleasure.” Chisato agreed happily, turning away from Aya to face the hob. She filled a frying pan with pancake batter, and the contented silence of the room was filled with the faint sizzling of batter. Leon shifted his attention towards Chisato and quickly moved to sit politely next to her, the promise of food outweighing any attention from a guest. Aya eagerly took a seat at the table, but her indulgent image of delicious birthday pancakes was interrupted by a sudden heavy feeling in the pocket of her sweater.

Her hand felt something solid and cool inside of the pocket, eventually pulling out Aya’s phone. Mortified that something so important to her hadn’t even crossed her mind that morning, she didn’t hesitate in clicking the power button on and felt a sigh of relief escape her lips as the screen lit up. Her phone background alternated between different idol groups, focusing this time on Ayumi and the other members of Marmalade. It had been half an hour since she had woken up, and Aya stared in disbelief in how long it took for her to wake up. Her eyes then moved their gaze to the date.

Which read Saturday 28th December.

“Chisato-chan?” Aya hesitated, her voice wracked with doubt. “Are you sure it’s the 27th today? It says 28th on my phone.”

“The time on your phone might be wrong.” Chisato replied. She immediately reached for her phone and clicked it on, showing the date as the 27th December amidst a background of Leon rolling around in the snow. “My phone’s showing the correct date.”

“I’ll go correct it then! I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“Don’t apologize, Aya-chan.”

Aya continued to make small talk with Chisato as she tapped into her settings and resynchronized her phone with the time zone. “Your phone background is really cute, Chisato-chan!”

“You have to see Leon in the snow one day.” Chisato gushed. “He’s absolutely adorable when he rolls around. Isn’t that right Leon?” She leaned down to address Leon playfully, and he happily rubbed up against her.

Aya’s response was stifled by the realization that her phone already was connected to the time zone they were in. She disconnected from the zone and then reconnected, tilting her head in confusion as she witnessed no change in the date. Completely puzzled, Aya exited her phones settings and tapped over to Twitter, hoping that the social media platform had an accurate sense of date and time. She navigated to the official Pastel Palettes account and narrowed her eyes in suspicion at the most recent post.

Which was a birthday video message from Aya, recorded and uploaded on the 27th December.

At this moment, the fog in Aya’s brain lifted. She recognized the lavish 3 tiered birthday cake in the background and followed along with Aya’s video speech verbatim even with the lack of sound. Hina, Maya, Eve and Chisato didn’t have any lines, but Aya recalled them standing behind the cameras and encouraging her. Aya had passed out from exhaustion after her work was done, but it was at her birthday party rather than a generic day.

“Chisato-chan, I’m pretty sure it’s the 28th today.”

“No its not Aya-chan, don’t worry.”

“I’ve just checked Twitter and seen my birthday message.” Aya announced to an audience of silence. Aya saw Chisato freeze up as she stood by the hob.

After a few seconds of agonizing stillness Chisato sighed in irritation and slumped over the counter defeatedly. “I knew this wasn’t going to work.” she mumbled.

“Chisato-chan, could you repeat that?”

“I’m so stupid for ever thinking this was going to work.” Chisato chastised. Her speaking volume didn’t rise, as if she were too stuck in self-loathing to take heed of what Aya said. “Even if she didn’t check Twitter she would have remembered eventually. I’m an idiot. I’m such a…” she sighed and slumped over once again.

“Chisato-chan?”

Chisato returned to her full height, but her shoulders were slumped and her head was bowed slightly. “I’m sorry for deceiving you. It’s just…” Chisato let out a frustrated breath before continuing. “It’s just that you barely had a moment for yourself yesterday! We all spent most of the day working, and you were pretty much exhausted when we had your party in the evening. You didn’t even get to open your presents or eat any of the cheesecake! I’m pretty sure it’s still at the agency!” After raising her head, Chisato’s head darkened in dismay upon witnessing Aya’s neutral listening expression. “You’ve just… worked so hard. You deserve a birthday just like the rest of us, or any person in the world! I wanted to try give you that feeling… no matter how contrived it was.”

Chisato took the silence that followed as damning, lowering her head further. However, her gaze shot back up as the quietness was interrupted by Aya’s sniffling. “Chisato-chan…” It wasn’t long before Aya was wiping tears from her cheeks. “Chisato-chan…! That’s so thoughtful of you!” she bawled.

“Aya-chan? You’re not mad?”

“Of course not!” Aya wailed! “I’m sorry for breaking the illusion so quickly!”

“Don’t apologize about that. We put way more faith in this than we should have.” Chisato dismissed. “We even placed predictions on when you would realize.”

“R-Really? Who was the… the closest?”

“Maya-chan was the closest, and on reflection, the most realistic. Both me and Eve-chan thought it would last until the afternoon. Hina-chan flip-flopped between you realizing immediately and you not realizing at all.”

“Ughhh!” Aya’s groan transitioned into a splutter as she struggled with her tears. “I wish Hina-chan would have more faith in me!”

“Hina-chan definitely has faith in you. She just shows it in a… unique way.” Chisato chuckled, taking a deep breath as her body relaxed.

“That’s a good way of putting it. Do we still have the day off today?” Aya asked, finally starting to dry away her tears.

Chisato shook her head. “We do. I didn’t lie about that. The others are coming over later so we can spend the day together.”

“Oooo that’ll be fun! It can be like a late birthday party!” Aya beamed.

“A late birthday party would have been the logical solution!” Chisato spoke as if she were admitting an embarrassing truth. “That aside, I think today will be fun too! For now, shall we focus on breakfast?”

“Good idea, Chisato-chan!” Aya watched Chisato return her focus to the hob and tilted her head curiously when Chisato burst out laughing. “Chisato-chan?”

Chisato held up the pan, managing to contain her laugher long enough to speak. “I’ve burnt the pancakes a bit.”

The pairs laughter resonated throughout the room before transitioning to a contented silence as Chisato started another batch. Leon returned and brushed against the side of Aya’s chair, both hoping for and receiving affection. As Aya happily turned her gaze to the crisp, blue sky beyond the kitchen windows, she concluded that all of the mysteries had been solved.

She went back on this thought quickly as she realized there was one more thought bugging her.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but where did you sleep last night?”

Chisato’s head snapped around to meet Aya’s, and she adopted a shaky smile. “I don’t mind you asking! Me and Leon slept on the couch! It was an absolute pain convincing Leon that he wasn’t sleeping with me on the bed like usual, but I managed it!” She shuffled her feet and fidgeted with her hands while she spoke.

No matter how wide she made her smile, Aya stared at her with the same unconvinced expression. “We slept in the same bed together, didn’t we? Me, you and Leon.”

“Oooh Aya-chan look at this!” Chisato took the pan off the hob and made an exaggerated show of pouring the pancake onto a plate for Aya. “I hope you enjoy it Aya-chan! Like I said before, I’m quite proud of my pancakes!”

As Aya covered her pancake in chocolate sauce and savored the buttery, chocolatey taste on her tastebuds, she considered herself silenced. There was no use worrying about everything, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday Aya! I love Aya a lot! I think her character is really human, especially for an idol character! Like most idols, she wants to be kind and selfless and to make people happy, but she also balances this with a personal desire to be noticed. I really like her interaction with Chisato too; Aya is an idealist, while Chisato is the realist. I had a lot of fun writing this! I think I jumped up and down repeatedly in excitement upon first thinking of this idea!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! If you have any comments or feedback feel free to leave them here! If you want to reach out on twitter feel free to do so at @ash060500
> 
> I hope you have a good rest of your day and I wish you the best in staying safe!


End file.
